Beer: Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by Dope:

A: A cloudy light copper pour with a huge billowy white head. Great retention and lacing.

S: Very interesting. Smells a lot like your typical big IPA. Lots of pine and a touch of citrus (orange?). Maybe a hint of banana in the background?

T: Whoa. Up front it's a big, smooth sweet juicy citrus hit (orange, mango primarily) with just a hint of pine in the background. Then as the citrus fades about halfway through, the pine stays and results in a big bitter pine resin hit. Very long lasting bitterness. Maybe a little pepper in with the pine in the aftertaste. No real evidence of typical belgian yeast that I can discern which is interesting.

O: Very interesting Belgian IPA. It's about 90% an american DIPA to be honest. If someone had handed me a glass of it at random, I probably never would have guessed it was anything but a normal DIPA. Doesn't mean it's bad, in fact it's quite good. It's just a very americanized version of the style.

More User Reviews:

Pours a hazed orange tinged lighter golden with a nice looking half finger almost creamy-like head.Citrus fruits in the nose with a tinge of spiced Belgian yeast although not real big,very citrusy.Mild yeasty notes on the palate with a big burst of the fresh citrus and tropical fruity hops,light earth in the finish.A refreshing beer that doesn't seem to show it's "size",very drinkable.

The Audacity of Hops opens to a bright burst of citrusy hops, pink grapefruit, grapefruit rind, pine resin, and lemon oil resounding, with lesser notes of dandelion stem, mint, and anise. While the hop aromas are very strong, the 70+ IBUs immediately apparent, there’s also a large Belgian presence that lies just beneath, with bananas and cloves mixing very nicely with the citrusy, fruity, spicy hops. The balance here is very nice, the Belgian and hop notes mingling generatively, whereas in many Belgian IPAs they end up clashing fiercely. These fruity notes are bolstered by heavy orange, berry, cherry, and apricot fruit esters, and the beer is somewhat grounded by an undercurrent of light toast crust, biscuit, and Grape Nuts cereal. As a whole, this is one of the more balanced, potent, and aromatic Belgian IPAs on the market, and while the beer does swing more in favor of IPA than Belgian, there is still enough of the latter aroma to make itself known.

On the tongue, the beer opens with an initial heavy shock of hops, with grapefruit rind, pine resin, eucalyptus, dandelion stem, mint, and anise sweeping across the tastebuds in bitter fury. Against this onslaught, it’s actually difficult to detect the Belgian flavors, the bananas and cloves largely subsumed, as are most of the fruity notes. There’s still a dollop or two of them, however, adding not only banana, but also orange, berry, and cherry. Toast crust, biscuit, and wet wheat add small bits of earthy grounding. The aftertaste is heavily hopped, being largely a continuation of the main mouthful, and lingers on the tongue in bitter remnants for a long time. Mouthfeel is medium, and carbonation is medium.

Overall, this is good beer, and hopheads should certainly seek out a bottle, as the hops are potent and varied, showcasing a powerful array of hoppy goodness. However, the Belgian part of the beer is largely lost because of the potency of the hops, and seems imbalanced because of it. Had this simply been labeled a “Double India Pale Ale,” rather than a “Belgian Style Double India Pale Ale,” there wouldn’t have been such a problem; as it is, the fruity, spicy bananas and cloves seem almost an afterthought. This is not to say that the beer is bad—in fact, it’s very delicious, though likely far too hoppy for the novice—just that it seems mislabeled.

A very cloudy, yeasty burnt orange, golden, and light amber. Moderately sized near-white head. Lots of stick left down the glass. A pretty Belgian IPA.

The audacity of hops are present in the aroma at the colder temperatures, but nice, somewhat tangy, distinctly Belgian yeast character emerges more and more as the beer warms. A very nice combination--the two works really well together. The hops have a white fruit, pear mainly, component to them, along with a bit of passion and citrus fruit character as well.

The flavor follows the aroma. This is certainly a nice, hop-forward DIPA style beer, but the yeast is allowed to play the starring role, especially as the beer warms. Moderately bitter. Clean finishing. Nice tangy yeast character up against lots of interesting, expressing hops.

Medium to near full in body for the style. Nearly high carbonation. Very drinkable.

T: A bit discordant. Starts with spice and bit of grapefruit and belgian yeast, then follows with a bit of juicy fruits succeeded by the bitter hop bite. Almost tastes like two different beers in a sense.

M: Smooth and creamy. Slight bite

O: Had this one fresh then had it again about two weeks later. The hops died down a bit but the finish was smoother. I think this is a really good beer. The fresher bottle I had I think was complex but the two styles didn't really meld IMO. The older bottle was probably more of a Belgian IPA as opposed to Belgian DIPA.

Very interesting type of beer. A double IPA Belgium Style!The color was consistent with so many other Belgium beers. A bit on the pale side with just a little murkiness. The nose was all Belgium! Could almost smell those wild yeasts being used. But adding to this, was a pleasant aroma of hops It was like having two worlds collide.The initial sip was crisp, overloaded with carbonation. A Belgium taste with an IPA finish, and the finish was dry, very dry and lingering.Second and third sips and I take back that carbonation aspect, but instead inject with a spunk live approachVery interesting beer. I sort of like the name, The Audacity of Hops... To me, that meant that move over Hops, even though I am a DIPA, you are going to taste my Belgium style!